March 3, 2026
Episode 177: Trust First: How Great Leaders Build Thriving Teams with Tony Thelen
In this episode of Future of Teamwork, Dane Groeneveld sits down with Tony Thelen – former Executive at John Deere, Founder and Principal Executive Coach at The River, and author of Things We Desire: The Desiderata Turns One Hundred.
After 35 years with John Deere, Tony “retired” to follow his calling of helping leaders navigate pressure, burnout, and identity shifts while building lives that are both successful and fulfilling. In this episode, Tony shares his “four quadrants” framework for a fulfilling life: professional, community, people you love, and self. He also shares why transitions (retirement, selling a company, leadership shifts) force necessary introspection, how burnout shows up at the top, and why trust is essential for a thriving team.
Together, Dane and Tony dive into building environments where teams operate at their apex, even when the leader isn’t in the room. It’s a conversation about moving beyond micromanagement, creating trust deposits in relationships, and giving talented people freedom on the “how” while aligning on values and outcomes.
For leaders who want to create resilient, high-performing teams that thrive independently, this episode offers both encouragement and challenge.
🔗 Connect with Tony Thelen on his website or email him at tony@therivercoach.org
🔗 Get Tony’s book, Things We Desire: The Desiderata Turns One Hundred
Trust First: How Great Leaders Build Thriving Teams with Tony Thelen
Guest Bio
Tony Thelen is the Founder and Principal Executive Coach at The River Coaching and Consulting, LLC., a firm he launched after a 35-year career with John Deere to help executives maximize effectiveness and build fulfilling careers.
Tony began his career as a chemical engineer and progressed through manufacturing leadership, sales, customer support, and marketing roles. He later led Deere’s Precision Agriculture organization, global tractor marketing, and two large-scale operating model transformations. In his final decade, he served in senior leadership roles within Deere’s captive finance organization, retiring as Chief Product Officer and Strategic Adviser to the President.
Tony has coached hundreds of senior professionals all over the world. He is a certified CoachSource and Hogan Assessment member of the International Coaching Federation and the Institute of Coaching.
Tony holds a post-graduate diploma from Oxford University, an MBA from the University of Northern Iowa, and a BS in Chemical Engineering from Iowa State University. He is the author of “Am I Doing This Right?” and “Things We Desire”published in Nov 2025, and writes the syndicated weekly executive coaching column The River, reaching over 100,000 readers.
Tony serves on multiple independent boards and lives in West Okoboji, Iowa, with his wife Sheila and their three daughters.
Key Takeaways
00:00 Welcome to the Future of Teamwork Podcast
00:25 Meet Tony Thelen
01:25 From John Deere to Coaching
03:26 Retirement Reframed
06:52 Four Life Quadrants
10:50 Learning Without Pain
12:21 Burnout Behind Closed Doors
15:47 Trust and Team Autonomy
20:50 Delegation Not Abdication
24:39 Time Plus Energy
29:13 Be Where Your Feet Are
32:53 From Pilots to Scale
34:49 Book Things We Desire
39:25 Pause Then Respond
41:30 Where to Find Tony
44:15 Closing Disclaimer
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